Last summer, 1.5 million young people descended on Lisbon, Portugal to celebrate World Youth Day. This annual Roman Catholic event is headed up by Pope Francis who presides over masses, prayer vigils and meetings. The aim is to promote spiritual unity and inspire and strengthen the faith of young Roman Catholics. Despite the polemic surrounding the costs (the local council had to stump up almost €3 million for the stage alone), the media coverage was largely favourable, in part due to the Pope’s repeated affirmation that the Church was for everyone. ‘Todos, todos, todos’, he repeated again and again. Everyone is welcome. No one is excluded.
With such an inclusive message, perhaps it is no surprise that several evangelicals were persuaded to join in, actively collaborating through music, dialogue and ecumenical services. Others simply went along to watch but were impressed by how many enthusiastic, zealous and sincere Roman Catholics there were. All this, taking place at the same time as a well-known evangelical in Coimbra decided to recant his faith and embrace Roman Catholicism, has led to much confusion amongst evangelicals. Some are wondering whether we should forget our ‘petty’ differences and unite for the sake of the gospel. After all, isn’t what unites us greater than what divides us?
This highlights just how little the current generation of evangelicals understand about the doctrine and practice of the Roman Catholic Church. For despite all the headlines, the reality is that the Roman Catholic Church maintains teachings that seriously diverge from fundamental evangelical beliefs, rejecting Christ alone as Saviour and Lord, the Bible alone as supreme authority for faith and life, and faith alone as the only way to salvation.
Take sin, for example. In Roman Catholic theology, sin is a wound that impairs our relationship with God. However, although we need God’s help to get better, we can cooperate with him in that process, thereby contributing to our salvation. Being baptised, taking part in the Mass, praying the rosary and earning indulgences are all part and parcel of the doctrine and practice of the Roman Catholic Church.
However, in the Bible, sin is not a wound; it has caused a radical breach between God and humanity that results in death (Romans 6:23). We were ‘dead in [our] trespasses and sins’ and ‘were by nature children of wrath’ (Ephesians 2:1-3). The reality is that there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves; nor can we cooperate in the salvific work of God. Our only hope is to trust in the atoning work of the Lord Jesus, who died on the cross in our place, so that we could be forgiven and receive life.
This difference in theology is not minor. For ultimately, it minimises the problem of sin (which is a capital offence against our Creator God), it diminishes the person of Christ (for it makes him insufficient to deal with our sin), it undermines the need for the cross (for if sin does not lead to death, then Christ did not have to die), and it relativises the authority of Scripture (for it places tradition over and above the Bible).
To go a small way towards bridging this gap of confusion and lack of understanding, we set up Associação Proclama. This small charity aims to equip and strengthen Portuguese evangelical churches. Back in May, we ran a series of conferences on Roman Catholicism with the help of three excellent speakers from the Reformanda Initiative. We were taught, challenged and encouraged to reject the siren call of unity at any price. Pray for us and those who attended, that we will hold on to the historical, apostolic, biblical gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in his word. Pray for Associação Proclama, that as this ministry develops it would genuinely serve and strengthen churches here in Portugal. And finally, pray that as brothers and sisters in Christ, we might continue to fight the good fight and remain faithful to the end.
By Joe Clarke, serving as pastor of Comunidade da Graça in Coimbra, Portugal